Cap. VS Yellow Top Battery

Which would be my best bet to change next in my car the battery or put in a cap.? I am tired of the lights flickering so I am just wondering which would be better, I know the battery is going to be more expensive so is it worth it? Thanks

Optima yellow top... or change your mid range speakers... Run the big 3 with a larger wire... Also... caps are worthless. Do a search for Sr20's many rants on caps... I think there are at least 5 in this forum alone...

yeah probably at least 5, I wouldn't be surprised if there were more, haha

yellowtop, and the big 3

...Run the big 3 with a larger wire...
Now that would be to power and ground going to the amp and the wires going to the subs right?

no, the big 3 are:
battery - to ground
engine block to ground
alt + to battery +

a battery is just another load on the alternator once the car is started

I think he meant changing the battery to a yellowtop, not adding a yellowtop on top of what he has now. In which case it won't be an extra load

it's still the same issue ... if there isn't anything wrong with the battery, it won't help to get another one if you are listening to the music with the car on. It still ends up being a load like the old battery. A bigger battery only helps a little if you are really pushing your system to the point where the voltage sags below like 12.5-13V.

Caps sometimes help with flickering lights ..... I wish shops would let you try them out first, to see if they help

it's still the same issue ... if there isn't anything wrong with the battery, it won't help to get another one if you are listening to the music with the car on. It still ends up being a load like the old battery. A bigger battery only helps a little if you are really pushing your system to the point where the voltage sags below like 12.5-13V.

Caps sometimes help with flickering lights ..... I wish shops would let you try them out first, to see if they help

I disagree about the battery. Your old battery will eventualy drain and doesn't fully power up each time when you are using it for car audio. A Deep cycle can handle fully unwinding and fully charging up again.

As long as your engine is running, and your battery output is lower than 13V (minimum charge voltage), it will present a load to your alt. Even though it's small charge on a healthy battery, it is a load. Which means another battery and/or capasitors, which can help out in some ways, is still another load to maintain. Simply put, there is a trade off. Unless you're going to be running your system with the engine stopped, another battery is unnecessary.

Theoretically, your capasitors are supposed to charge up and then discharge power to your amps faster than your battery. Because most music does not always demand full power, (some music constantly need a lot of power), in theory, the caps are supposed to charge in between peaks and be ready to discharge before the next peak demands it. The number of farads that you really need for your caps to be noticably effective depends on how much power you're demanding and how often, or in other words the type of music you listen to and your listening habits.

The OEM battery is crapp with just enough CCA and CA to start the car and run OEM equiptment...adding a yellow top will allow more amps which will keep the voltage from droping....caps do nothing...capasitors are made to hold electrons....your positive terminal on the battery is postitive because of the lack of electrons....if you connect the (+) terminal to a capasitor it will jsut store up electrons moving back to the battery...in order for a capasitor to be even remotley effective is to wire ir between the amp and the ground (-) terminal...and even then most people install a capasitor then they wanna test it out so they pop a CD in and blast the stereo...and it has no effect because capasitors with thoes capasities (2+ farads) take quite a bit of time to charge completely....

oh and the first time a capasitor is wired into a continuous circut like that however mand columbs of electrons are in it becomes it maximum capasity....so basicly discharging it so quickly shortens its life and capasity....sorry for al lthe spelling errors...

so if your batt is running your system, why do you need an alt?

Okay so it seems caps are worthless and i should go with the yellow top. Oh by the way i will be replacing to orignal battery not adding a second battery.

ok so a moderator just told you that a battery wont help and a cap might... so you do the smart thing and ignore him.

CBFryman .... you have learned just enough about electronics to be dangerous. Wiring the + side of a cap and the - side to ground is the ONLY way to wire a polarized capacitor into this circuit. Capacitors do not take a long time to charge, they charge in milliseconds. Caps do not lose their ability to hold a charge over time unless they are physically damaged. Caps don't actually move elctrons accross it, they move a charge accross the magnetic field between the plates. Precharging a cap only prevents it from arcing when you hook it up, it does NOT effect it's capacity. It is true that maunfacturers skimp on battery and alternator output for obvious reasons ..... if it doesn't increase power, efficiency or performance, they why would they bother. If you're battery is worn out, you would wanna replace it - but you still haven't fixed the reason for the battery always being discharged

Just for your information a capasitor has no magnetic feild untill charged...and the insulation between the two conductors hold the electrons... i know a polorized capasitor has to be wired into the positive lead...what i was saying is that all the capasitor will keep from happening is electrons moving back towards the battery...this does lottle for yourheadl ights and other accesories...

you so you know its spelled "capacitor".

I got a new alternator, rated 30 amps higher than original. Worked fine and was running on the original battery, didn't damage a thing. All flickering/dimming stopped.

Yes you can do that, but if you can work with the lowest cost with no dimming why not do it?

$80 for new alternator, $60 core value, so I was only out $20.

80 for the new alternator? what kind of power is it putting out?

90 over the stock 60. got it about 4 years back from AutoZone. Sounded funny to me, but I was like "HEY, THAT ONE!". Prolly somethin in their system, I think they actually run about $100 - $120.

I got a stock 90 :(

'94 bronco only had a 60, and that was up from the 40. Coulda got a 90 if it had the 351 Cleveland.

Just for your information a capasitor has no magnetic feild untill charged...
DUUUHHHH, BUT IF THE CAP IS HOOKED UP, IT IS CHARGED - A WORTHLESS POINT
and the insulation between the two conductors hold the electrons...
NO, THE INSULATION "PREVENTS" THE ELECTRONS FROM MOVING FROM ONE CONDUCTOR TO THE OTHER .... THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT AN INSULATOR
i know a polorized capasitor has to be wired into the positive lead...what i was saying is that all the capasitor will keep from happening is electrons moving back towards the battery...this does lottle for yourheadl ights and other accesories...
NO AGAIN, THE CHARGE WILL CROSS THE MAGNETIC FIELD WHEN THE VOLTAGE ON ONE SIDE DROPS. A CHARGE IS VERY SIMILIAR TO CURRENT (AMPS), AND THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT THE CAP DELIVERS. WHEN THE VOLTAGE SAGS ON ONE SIDE OF THE CAP, THE CHARGE ACTS TO PROP UP THE VOLTAGE, AND IT CAN DO IT VERY QUICKLY.


Dude, you honestly need to read up on this stuff ... cuz you are making yourself look dumb

The OEM battery is crapp with just enough CCA and CA to start the car and run OEM equiptment...adding a yellow top will allow more amps which will keep the voltage from droping....caps do nothing...capasitors are made to hold electrons....your positive terminal on the battery is postitive because of the lack of electrons....if you connect the (+) terminal to a capasitor it will jsut store up electrons moving back to the battery...in order for a capasitor to be even remotley effective is to wire ir between the amp and the ground (-) terminal...and even then most people install a capasitor then they wanna test it out so they pop a CD in and blast the stereo...and it has no effect because capasitors with thoes capasities (2+ farads) take quite a bit of time to charge completely....

oh and the first time a capasitor is wired into a continuous circut like that however mand columbs of electrons are in it becomes it maximum capasity....so basicly discharging it so quickly shortens its life and capasity....sorry for al lthe spelling errors...


Just for your information a capasitor has no magnetic feild untill charged...and the insulation between the two conductors hold the electrons... i know a polorized capasitor has to be wired into the positive lead...what i was saying is that all the capasitor will keep from happening is electrons moving back towards the battery...this does lottle for yourheadl ights and other accesories...


I don't think he's really being serious, I think he was just bored and needed something to do...

oh and just to let yall know....in order for a magnetic feild to produce electricity...a conductor has to be moving through it.....since there are no movind parts in a capasitor the magnetic feild produced by a cap is not what transfers the electrons...the insulation in a cap is usually silicon mized with a small percentage of a metal that has 2 or 3 electrons in its vallence layre (outer electron feuld in an electronic cloud) this makes a semi conductor which stores electrons....

oh and just to let yall know....in order for a magnetic feild to produce electricity...a conductor has to be moving through it.....since there are no movind parts in a capasitor the magnetic feild produced by a cap is not what transfers the electrons...the insulation in a cap is usually silicon mized with a small percentage of a metal that has 2 or 3 electrons in its vallence layre (outer electron feuld in an electronic cloud) this makes a semi conductor which stores electrons....

what you just described is NOT a capacitor, it's a semiconductor .... as in a diode junction. This getting more entertaining by the day. Too bad you're friends don't know any more about this stuff then you do, or they would be laughing at you too.

CBFryman.... lol, dude just stop, to bad i cant tell you to just stop while your behind, because your obviously to stupid to do anything right, so just STFU, then read some these forums until you know what your talking about. ( then go back to school and learn how to spell ) it's one thing to say something wrong, then accept the correction, but when your CBFryman, and you think others are dumb like PaulD and Navy I.C., then people can/should hate on you

hey, I ain't hatin on him .... I'm just laughing. But as the moderator, I feel obliged to correct stuff that I KNOW is wrong, so other people won't be confused or misled.

yea, that's true

so your saying there are moving parts in a capasitor??? now im laughing....

when did he ever say there were moving parts in a cap?

CAPACITOR!!! not Capasitor

answering this guy is time away from helping other people...

suggestions on reducing dimming

1)upgrade ground wire for your alt, batt, etc
2)recoil your alternator to a higher output
3)deep cycle battery (optima,exide,etc)

realistically you'll need to do them all anyways if you have a big system


caps are pretty useless if ur looking to prevent dimming......unless you look into a simfoni power bank....its an ultra highend regulated power cap


its bloody expensive tho